Markets steady in quiet start to the week.....>

FOREX: Markets steady in quiet start to the week

-Currencies trade largely within their recent ranges early Monday, with the

strong close on Wall Street Friday helping knock JPY slightly, but most pairs

trade comfortably within last week's ranges. The Monday session is light on data

and newsflow, with US markets remaining closed for President's Day.

-Better equity markets in Asia (Nikkei 225 closed higher by 1.8%) helped

underpin risk-on sentiment in the early hours, but mainland European equities

have failed to follow suit, with most sitting modestly in the red (down 0.1 to

0.3%), helping pull USD/JPY off the day's highs of Y110.61.

-Better oil markets have failed to flatter commodity currencies so far Monday,

with CAD yet to trouble the best levels of last week.

-Risk events are weighted comfortably toward the tail-end of the week, with no

fewer than nine Fed speakers due on Friday, following the release of the FOMC

minutes on Wednesday. The bulk of Eurozone and UK data is due tomorrow, with UK

jobs data and German ZEW survey on tap, followed by Eurozone and US PMIs

following on Thursday.